Arming a captain to lead a quad-plasma command squad.

[Velkairiwyth]

Reading this thread has encouraged me to give the unit a try...

 

Yet, when it came to actually putting it to use - I put in 3 melta guns...

 

why? S8 = instakills

good at wounding whatever it happens to hit

Excellent against vehicles

 

I used them to great effect in a battle against guard tonight:

 

Command Squad lead by Khan - they outflanked right behind a demolisher, popped off two melta guns taking off its turret, got charged by his hq - had to emergency disembark, and then charged, killed the HQ with no casualties, consolodated to cover - where a nearby squad jumped round and rapid fired - feel no pain kept them all standing (8 wounds!) I then charged and wiped the unit out.

 

Against horde - the unit excells at melee, against meqs/teqs and vehicles, those melta guns do a world of pain that Im not convinced a plasma gunner would attain... Although against meq/teq troops it would be much more effective with the ability to rapid fire - but considering I threw Khan in there, it seemed silly not to design the group so that it could fire its weapons and charge... Furious charge is just awesome on this squad!

[Xeonic]

Against anything but heavy(AV13+) vehicles or multiwound T4 models(nobs, warriors) the plasma gun squad will do better. Even against nobs the plasma guns would probably do similarly since it's double the shots. S7 wounds almost any infantry on a 2+, denies them feel no pain if they have it, and negates all armor saves. I would honestly rather take 1-2 meltas for the squad(remember all those plasma shots can still glance AV13), or a couple meltabombs than all meltaguns.

 

If you're using it as a hybrid assault unit, then I think 2 melta and a fist should be sufficient vs most targets. With Khan's Furious charge the fist would be S9, which is gravy.

I understand though with Khan the desire to charge, but I feel that khan's ability would be better put to use leading a more assaulty unit than a command squad with 3-4 ranged upgrades. :P

[DarkGuard]

...

The reason I suggested a bolter apoth was because if the squad is in CC, you're wasting 60 pts of upgrades. I understand that you can't always stay out of CC though, but 1 attack IMO is hardly going to make or break a squad either way. Personally though since the squad is designed to engage at range I'd rather have a bolter apoth just for the added effectiveness where you want to focus the squad. Properly arming any ICs attached to the squad is far more important than if or not the apothecary has a bolter or pistol.

...

 

Like you've identified, it's hard to keep that unit out of combat. If you disembark them and rapid-fire then anything supporting that unit or the survivors of that unit will assault the plasma gun squad. Furthermore, a bolt shot will not increase the effectiveness of the squad by any significant amount if you're going after targets they're designed attack, mainly MCs and MEQ. Of course, an extra CC attack won't do much, so it's personal preference.

 

I do feel also that properly armed ICs attached to the squad if more important, and I feel a RB and hellfire bolter is the best way to go as they both threaten MEQ and MCs from range and combat.

[ShinyRhino]

I just finished paitning my master of the Forge conversion (totally unrelated to the command squad), so I'm now kicking into high gear to complete the three plasmagunners and the Apothecary I need to field this.

Unfortunately, I won't be getting any competitive games in until at least July. Local shop's monthly was cancelled because they're hosting the 'Ard Boyz Semis. Boooooooo!

 

I think it's going to be absolutely crucial that I put this squad in cover, since a single krak/lascannon/etc shot can chop my plasma output by 25%. I want the squad to be cheapish, so I can't afford stormshields for them.

 

A biker version would be neat, but I run bike troops with a bike captain. I'm already short on bodies as it is, and adding a bike command squad that isn't tooled for CC just isn't cost effective in my lists, as I already have plent of shooty bikes as Troops slots.

[Velkairiwyth]

Good points on my comment. Gonna try them as an exclusive shooty unit, and put the captain elsewhere... (Or as the topic suggests, kit up a captain especially for use in this unit, and to add some extra punch for if the units caught in combat.)

 

I now have an inkling to put some bikers on the table (although apothecary = friendly plasma...) thanks to Khans abilities and having been victim to a mates ravenwing outflank n gank!